715: Our Wizard Lies
Grumpy Old Geeks
Jason DeFillippo & Brian Schulmeister with Dave Bittner
4.8 • 6.1K Ratings
🗓️ 26 September 2025
⏱️ 70 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Grumpy Old Geeks is back with another round of righteous griping and eyebrow-raising headlines in Episode 715: Our Wizard Lies. We kick things off in FOLLOW UP, where TikTok is still the geopolitical hot potato that both the U.S. and China promise to sort out “someday, maybe,” while Wired’s global editorial director explains how tech’s growing political clout is playing out under Trump. From there, it’s a cavalcade of absurdities: DOGE as federal workforce demolition derby, and crypto bros trying to turn Charlie Kirk’s death into meme-stock retirement plans. Late-stage capitalism is nothing if not creative.
Then in IN THE NEWS, Amazon gets spanked with a $2.5 billion fine for Prime trickery, Microsoft yanks cloud services from an Israeli military unit, and Palantir goes full lifestyle brand—yes, you too can cosplay as a drone strike enthusiast with a $99 pair of gym shorts. Silicon Valley philosophers warn AI regulation would literally summon the Antichrist, while banks whisper the bubble might pop before the devil even arrives. Meanwhile, YouTube toys with letting COVID and election denialists back into the algorithm, “SIM farms” threaten New York’s cell networks, and unlucky tourists are finding themselves trafficked into cyber-scam slavery across Southeast Asia. Progress!
MEDIA CANDY tries to lighten the mood—sort of—serving up everything from Elio, Tron: Ares, and Disney price hikes to AI musicians cashing million-dollar checks. Lionsgate, on the other hand, learns you can’t feed four John Wicks into an algorithm and get an anime out the other side. Over in THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE, we get furries on the DC Metro, Disney plotting your every park step via Ray-Ban spy glasses, a Ponzi scheme in RadioShack cosplay, and even a Jim Henson Company anniversary auction. We close out with shout-outs and sighs, because sometimes the world doesn’t deserve a mic drop—just a slow shake of the head.
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Show notes at https://gog.show/715
FOLLOW UP
US and China agree to agree on a TikTok deal
WIRED global editorial director on tech's growing political power under Trump
The Story of DOGE, as Told by Federal Workers
Crypto Bros Are Trying to Monetize Charlie Kirk’s Death
IN THE NEWS
Amazon to pay $2.5 billion for allegedly duping millions to sign up for Prime
Palantir Wants to Be a Lifestyle Brand
Silicon Valley’s latest argument against regulating AI: that would literally be the Antichrist
AI Experts Urgently Call on Governments to Think About Maybe Doing Something
‘Workslop’: AI-Generated Work Content Is Slowing Everything Down
Deutsche Bank Issues Grim Warning for AI Industry
YouTube may reinstate channels banned for spreading covid and election misinformation
‘SIM Farms’ Are a Spam Plague. A Giant One in New York Threatened US Infrastructure, Feds Say
They traveled to Thailand. They wound up cyber scam slaves in Myanmar.
MEDIA CANDY
Disney is raising the price of Disney+, Hulu subscriptions next month
Wicked: For Good | Final Trailer
Lilith Faire: Building a Mystery
AI Artist Signs Million-Dollar Record Deal
Lionsgate Is Finding Out It’s Really Hard to Make Movies With AI
Jimmy Kimmel May Be Back. Trump’s Attacks on the First Amendment Aren’t Over By Merrill Markoe
THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE
Disney Explores Using Ray-Ban Meta Glasses To Guide Guests Around Its Parks
The Happiest Story on Earth: 70 Years of Disneyland
The Mandalorian and Grogu | Official Trailer | In Theaters May 22, 2026
The Jim Henson Company 70th Anniversary Auction
Feds Say Company That Bought RadioShack Was Running $112 Million Ponzi Scheme
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Your first great love story is free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible.co. |
| 0:05.4 | That's audible.co.ukesl-wondery. |
| 0:13.9 | Grumpy old geeks, a weekly talk show hosted by Brian Schulmeister and Jason DePhilippo discussing the finer points of what went wrong on the |
| 0:21.2 | internet and who's to blame. |
| 0:27.7 | Welcome to grumpy old geeks. I'm Jason DeFilippo. And I'm Brian Schillmeister. It's Friday. |
| 0:33.9 | It's the only good thing I have to say about today is it's Friday. |
| 0:38.1 | So. |
| 0:40.3 | Yeah, it's Friday. |
| 0:44.5 | Well, the U.S. and China have agreed to agree on a TikTok deal. |
| 0:45.7 | What does that mean, Jason? |
| 0:47.8 | You tell me, Brian. |
| 0:49.2 | Well, nobody really knows. |
| 0:57.3 | White House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt, who has, you know, been a bastion of truth and honesty, and we can trust everything. |
| 0:57.7 | She says. She oozes truth. |
| 0:59.7 | Said a TikTok deal is expected to be signed in the coming days after President Donald Trump posted an update on Friday that did absolutely nothing to clarify where the deal currently stands following a call with the Chinese president. |
| 1:11.6 | In a post on true social, Trump said both of the two had made progress on approval of a |
| 1:16.6 | TikTok deal and that he appreciates the TikTok approval. |
| 1:20.0 | He also told reporters in the Oval Office that he approved a TikTok deal, according to Reuters. |
| 1:24.9 | But Chinese state-run media reported the call a little bit differently, |
| 1:28.3 | according to the New York Times, stating that the Chinese president had conveyed the government |
| 1:33.2 | respects the wishes of the company in question, is glad to see business negotiations in line |
| 1:37.4 | with market rules and a solution that conforms to Chinese laws and regulations and takes into |
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